


Admiration of a Shadow

by TwilightRealmWolf



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, F/M, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Stalking, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-10
Updated: 2015-03-10
Packaged: 2018-03-17 06:34:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3519035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwilightRealmWolf/pseuds/TwilightRealmWolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neglected by his adulterous husband and left feeling particularly vulnerable as his marriage crumbles, lonely classics teacher Geoff Ramsey finds himself stuck between his emotions and his safety as he meets a boy who turns terrifying as his fiery lust morphs into dangerous obsession.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Admiration of a Shadow

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, this was SO much fun to write, no joke. Now, a few quick things:
> 
> I tagged the things that will be in the story later, all of them may not be present now but they will be at a later date. This story follows the plot line of the movie The Boy Next Door, but I'm contorting some things to how I like them, so it should end up being mostly original. I'm excited to see how it ends up going!
> 
> Feedback is VERY much appreciated!

The thump of his feet across the loose gravel and dirt, the music in his ears, the scent of the trees and the plants in his nose, a simple yet perfect description of what surrounded him. He continued to run without falter, his feet sending the rocks scattering around the dirt path, kicking up dust as he continued forward. The breaks in the tree leaves far above his head provided small glimpses of the blue sky, the rare sunlight streaming through the gaps in foliage. It wasn’t that the town was always dark and gloomy, no, the people around always had a way of making it bearable, but it just seemed that the down was always grey in some way. Whether it was storming, drizzling, foggy, or simply just cloudy, grey was always the color. Though, he had always liked the blue skies secretly.

Turning the corner quickly, not letting the change in direction change his pace, Geoff’s feet continued to pound at the earth, the rhythm of the harmonies and the thump of the bass filling his mind along with his thoughts. Usually, he found himself running in order to get away from it all, a break from work and a break from himself. Outside, he found it easier to work through his own problems, his mind clearer when he was out in open nature rather than sat at a musty feeling desk with his mind crushed by the weight of hundreds of classics essays, textbooks and classical literature. There was no doubt that he had a passion and deep love for his job, but he found himself constantly so absorbed in his work and the work of his students that he could never scrounge up time for himself personally. People had told him that he needed to work on getting an outlet, but he had always laughed them off, changing the subject almost instantly.

Though, he’d be lying if he said that he’d never thought about the aspect of professional help. On the outside, he always seemed happy and content to any outsiders eye, but deeper in his own mind, he constantly craved the ability to let everything out in a mental purge, leaving him without those tragic memories for the rest of his life. After all, it was nearly impossible to allow yourself to appear to be anything but cheery and optimistic on the outside when raising a hormonal mess of a teenager. Though he was a bright young mind, young Gavin Free’s life hadn’t always been the easiest, and Geoff never wanted his son to take away the idea that drinking away the pain and running away was a solution to any problem. God knows over the years that Geoff has perfected that, constantly proving the theory that it fails every single time.

As he began to delve deeper into his own subconscious, he found himself picking up the pace, his legs powerfully striking the ground with each stride, the wind ruffling his hair and his now drooping moustache.

Anyone he had talked to in the past had all told him the same thing, over and over, repeating themselves like a broken record.

_Pour all of your feelings into your passions. Then, you’ll be far too happy to remember why you were even sad in the first place._

Sure, he always hated hearing the mundane piece of advice, but each time he always accepted the words with an open mind and a thankful smile. He told each and every person time and time again that he appreciated their support and that he would work on doing that when he could come across the time. Of course, it was a massive lie, as the summer was the only time that he could ever have a small sliver of time to himself where his nose wasn’t buried in a classical novel that he’s read and re-read hundreds of times, a pen still held eagerly in his hand scribbling notes as if he had never seen the words a day in his life. Maybe he was just avoiding the topic. Or maybe he just prefered not to think about it.

Though, when he actually got to thinking about it, he could never bring himself to stop.

Suddenly, as he continued his dash absentmindedly, he found himself falling deeper and deeper into his memories, spiraling downwards beyond his control.

His mind swam, his eyes aching as he desperately fought the tears back along with the memories. The mental picture of his husband was imprinted behind his eyes, the image of the expression on his face burned into his skull. To this day, he couldn’t help but attempt to decode what he had meant by the small words “I’m sorry”. Geoff wanted himself to believe that he meant it but he knew deep inside that he could never bring himself to actually accept it. Yet, when had any spouse ever cheated then apologized for it while genuinely meaning it? Never, that Geoff had seen. Not even in the movies.

Ryan had always been a busy man, an important business consult that flew everywhere in the world that could be stood on with his own two feet. He’d never even had the chance to know the hardships of paving his own road to success, falling into the holes and scraping his knee. No, he’d just been persuasive and charismatic enough to be thrust straight to the top. Nevertheless, it hadn’t been an issue for him. He’d always been at least one step ahead, one point smarter, one client further. Maybe that’s just the reason why Geoff shouldn’t have been surprised to find out that Ryan had found someone else. In what way did the coupling of a successful businessman and a high school classics teacher equate?

It had been an average night, Geoff sitting on the couch inside their study curled up with his beaten up copy of Pride and Prejudice, his black ballpoint pen scribbling additional small notes in the margins. He had always loved the classic, and was debating on whether or not to focus his next semester course entirely on it or not. It had always been a tie between Pride and Prejudice or the Iliad by Homer. There were just so many that he loved that he could never find himself entirely sure on any specific one, but rather wishing that he could work with them all.

As he scribbled his notes, swamped in deep thought, he found himself surfacing the metaphorical waters in order to think of Ryan. Ryan had never been one for literature, himself always more interested in business and clientele. Though, that didn’t mean that the two had fallen any less in love when they first met. Geoff had always been sitting on the edge of his seat, excited to hear everything and anything about Ryan’s job, his business, his day. Ryan, it seemed, had always done the same in return for Geoff, always placing his hand under his chin as his elbow rested on the table. Even though Geoff was always skeptical of speaking about his job simply for the fear of boring the gent to tears. Nevertheless, every single time without fail Ryan prompted him to continue on, never sparing a detail. Each and every time after Geoff had finished his inevitable tangent about one of the classics books and finally brought himself back to Earth, he found Ryan staring into his eyes, and every time Geoff asked “What are you staring at,” Ryan always responded by saying that he was so deeply in love with Geoff that he was more than certain that there would never be anyone else as perfect as him.

That, undoubtedly, was the precise reason that Geoff had never seen the event coming.

As Ryan begun to rank up higher and higher at his company, Geoff began to see less and less of him. No, he wasn’t surprised when Ryan came home and told him about his week long business trip. No, he wasn’t surprised when one trip turned into two, then three, going on and on with no end in sight. Each week Ryan would promise Geoff that this was the last one, but it never was. One day, Ryan had just stopped the promises. Even though long ago Geoff had began to feel the emptiness in each and every promise, each growing less and less sincere, but he still found himself angry at the absence of them. He was always the kind of person to hide away his emotions well enough that they never showed on the surface but it ate him up on the inside, slowly building up with more fervor and intensity with every absence. Geoff had never seen it coming at the time, but his present self thinking back on the incident, he should’ve.

It shouldn’t have been such a surprise when he exploded and boiled over.

It was a Friday night, very late as usual, which Geoff was spending curled up on his study couch with Pride and Prejudice again, still managing to find space in the margins to scribble even more notes. He could never figure out why, but he always kept himself awake with a cup of coffee infused with a small amount of whiskey in order to wait for Ryan to come through the door. It wasn’t like Ryan ever wanted to have a conversation when he came home, always just giving Geoff a small grunt which he assumed resembled a greeting before kicking off his shoes and going upstairs, never waiting to see if Geoff would catch up or fall into step behind. Geoff found himself never wanting to say anything to Ryan either, even though a thousand things came to mind each and every time. As he tore himself away from his book, he found his blood beginning to boil as he thought about the possibility of finally confronting Ryan, accusing him of all his bullshit.

That, as it turns out, was a bad idea.

The second Ryan set foot in the door, Geoff was up on his feet, walking with purpose towards the foyer. Ryan had just began to remove his shoes and coat when Geoff entered, not bothering to process his thoughts before anything came spilling out of his mouth.

“Maybe you should just leave those on,” Geoff spoke, a small amount of clearly detectable bitterness in his tone. Ryan didn’t even bother to look up, not pausing the process of removing his shoes and his coat. He didn’t even speak for a matter of seconds, staring down at the floor before turning his head and straightening up his back, setting himself more or less at eye level with Geoff.

“Enlighten me as to why I would bother to do that in my own house,” Ryan says, more of a demanding tone in his voice than Geoff had.

“Oh don’t you dare pull that on me, Ryan Haywood! None of this ‘I pay the bills, I bring the money’ shit, I don’t care. You were very much aware what this became once we got married, what’s yours is mine and vice versa. We’re in this together, buddy,” Geoff spat, using his hands wildly in order to illustrate the strength in his point. Ryan’s flat expression twisted into one of disgust and disbelief, and it was only moments before he was angry too.

“I was aware of what this meant the day we went and said our vows. I promised I’d be here for you as your husband, and I am. I never went back on that, so I don’t see what this could be about-”

“Here for me? You’d call this,” Geoff pauses to wildly gesture with his hands between Ryan and himself, his voice escalating, “being _here for me?_ ” Geoff stops and scoffs, cutting Ryan off before he can begin to talk. “You leave every week, you don’t come back until late, and you leave in a day so early that no one gets to say goodbye! The only reason that I get to see you is because, for some God forsaken reason force myself to stay up until ungodly hours in the morning to wait for you!” Geoff yells out, his voice cracking as his eyes turn red.

“You promised me you wouldn’t do this, Geoff! I told you that I would have to do these business trips, and _you_ said you were okay with it! It’s-”

“I never said I was okay with it!” Geoff interrupts, exploding in Ryan’s face, making Ryan speechless for the moment. “I knew that it was something that you had to do for work. I didn’t ever say that I was _okay_ with it, I said that I _understood_ it. You do what you have to do, Ryan, I haven’t interfered before and I most certainly won’t now. Isn’t it okay to miss my husband sometimes? To miss when you at least wake me up in order to tell me goodbye? You haven’t done any of that at all recently, Ryan! It makes me wonder how you can even stand those business trips, you used to never be able to go five minutes without me holding your hand, sitting next to you, all that mushy gushy couple stuff. Now we barely even sleep in the same bed!” Geoff screeched, completely beside himself.

He was completely coming undone at the seams, and there was little to nothing that he could do about it. Ryan stood in his same position that he had been in for the entire encounter, arms flat at his side, but with his fists slightly balled. Geoff stared in Ryan’s direction, a clear expression that spoke ‘Well? What do you have to say to that?’ without even needing to say the words themselves. Ryan’s expression remained set, his eyes focused on Geoff’s, untelling of what he was thinking inside or how he was feeling. There were a few more moments of tense silence before Ryan spoke up, clearing his throat quietly before speaking to Geoff in a calm and level tone.

“I miss those days where I could be content with my hand in yours, or even just being in your presence. I love you, Geoff, and you know that-” Ryan’s voice began to trail off as he got quieter, but Geoff’s voice replaced Ryan’s missing voice, filling in the blanks easily without fault.

“-you don’t need me anymore.”

“Geoff,”

“No, Ryan,” Geoff sighed, his breathing shaky as his voice waivered more than usual, “I’m not stupid. It was obvious the entire damn time.” There was a rough tone in Geoff’s voice that was beginning to return as the anger and realization bubbling back to him, boiling in his head all the way to the pit of his stomach.

“But you’re wrong, Geoff-”

“How dare you say that to me! Even after I call you out on your lie, you still continue to lie to me? What the _hell_ is wrong with you, Ryan Haywood?” Geoff exploded, hot tears burning down his cheeks, the tears a mix of anger and heartbreak. His head swam, all of the emotions suddenly building up to a point where he was unable to handle them, his judgement clouded beyond clarity.

“ _I do still need you!_ ” Ryan’s voice boomed throughout the house, empty for the night with the exception of the arguing men in the foyer. Even their son wasn’t in the house, choosing to go off and spend the night in the shed in the backyard that he had converted into a makeshift retreat for himself when he needed some time by himself. Geoff sat in silence as he watched Ryan’s red face boil with rage, his fists balled so tightly that his fingers were ghostly white from lack of blood. He was trembling, his eyes forced rightly shut, tears still managing to slip through.

“I do still need you,” Ryan continued, his voice cracking even at a barely audible whisper, “and I don’t know why I’ve done what I’ve done. She was just so comforting...and she was always there for me when I was so many miles away from you…”

“Don’t you dare bring me into this, don’t put me in the same sentence as when you talk about your _mistress_ ,” Geoff sneered, bitterness coating his tone.

“I still need you, Geoff. I didn’t marry you for no reason,” Ryan pleas, stepping forward with open arms and a solemn expression on his face, attempting to convince Geoff into an embrace. Though, as soon as he got close to Geoff, Geoff jerked away violently, his face twisted into a strange mix of hurt and anger.

“Don’t you dare touch me!” He yells, taking two large strides backwards down the foyer hallway.

“Geoff…” Ryan’s voice faded away, and an uncomfortable tense silence fell like a curtain all around them.

“I think you should leave, Ryan,” Geoff requests, his voice cracking, as he uses the back of his hand to wipe away the new tears that began to fall, cascading over his cheekbones and embedding into his facial hair.

“Geoff, _please_ ,” Ryan pleaded, practically groveling at Geoff’s feet.

“I don’t want your bad choices around our son, Ryan. We didn’t adopt him so that you could abandon him just as he’s starting to come into his own, finding out all of his troubles that burden him every single day. We adopted him because you convinced me that a kid was the best choice, that that was what we needed. Yes, I love Gavin unconditionally, but you just can’t do this, Ryan. You just can’t. Especially when the element of when his breathing problems take over his life and drop a ton of weight on his chest is constantly looming over us,” Geoff pauses, his voice going down to a crackling whisper, “I think you need to leave.”

“Geoff…”

“Ryan, please,” Geoff states, his tone flat. Ryan stares at Geoff in stunned silence, moments passing by slowly, each second of the ticking clock in the hallway feeling hours apart. Though, finally, after a few seconds, Ryan nods a small nod, his solemn gaze falling to the floor before he walks backward to the door, bending down to gather his business belongings. With all of his possessions in his hands, he looks up at Geoff one last time, a small hopeful twinkle in his eye that was extinguished by Geoff’s silence. Begrudgingly, Ryan reaches for the door knob, opening the large door, stepping out into the cold air. The seconds before he closed it, he heard Geoff’s voice from down the hall, nearly silent and broken.

“I think we should rethink our relationship too."

And with that, the door shut, and silence fell over the sorrow of the house.


End file.
